Cochabamba to Copacabana Via La Paz

This was the second week of our Temple closure. We had rested up from our trip to Villa Tunari the week before. Now we were ready for a new adventure. We were going to fly out on Tuesday morning for a day in La Paz with the Glaettlis at around 8:00. We were told our plane had some difficulties, so we got to sit in the Cochabamba airport for a couple hours. Elder Glaettli gave me a book he had about Bolivia. It was interesting to learn about the history of Bolivia. Some of the earlier better known groups were the Tiwanaku, Inca, Aymara, and Quechua. The Spanish explorer, Pizarro, conquered the Inca nation, took all of their silver and gold out of their temples, killed their king, and made them slaves to work in the silver mines in the area called Oruro today. Over 80% of the workers died because of the abuse.

In the 1800’s this area was part of Peru and was liberated from the Spanish by Simon Bolivar-hence the name Bolivia. It’s government has been rocky for many years. Bolivia used to be twice as big as it is now, but lost ground to every country around it. At one time it had land clear to the ocean but lost that strip of land to Chili, and is now one of the two landlocked countries in South America. Elder Glaettli told me that when he was a missionary in La Paz in the 1970’s, they had 3 Presidents in one day. A member of the military shot the current President, took over, and later in the day was shot by another member of the military who took over.

Does this sound familiar? When the people here are upset about something, they block off the streets so no one can get through and they protest. They call them “bloqueos”. The ones that we have seen have not been violent. The day we arrived in La Paz they were having a huge blockade. As one of our taxi drivers explained to Martin there were those in favor of the current president, Evo, being able to pass a new law so that he can run again, and those who are opposed. During that morning, some of the protests became violent near the University. We saw a little of it on tv. Tuesday evening we were at the San Francisco Cathedral where there were several thousand people milling around. We walked up the street to look in shops and when we came back, there was a full blown protest parade with chanting and fireworks. They were chanting no to Evo. It was pretty interesting, and didn’t seem dangerous. We decided we better get out of there though, because missionaries are supposed to avoid those kind of things. Sister Farnsworth told me when she was a young missionary in La Paz, they lived by the University, and several times were close to protests and tear gas. She said at one point, President Kimball and his wife barely avoided being tear gassed on their way to the airport.

Our first sight from the ground of La Paz coming from the airport

You can see the teleferico in the second picture. They opened it up about 3 years ago.While we were there, they had three lines. The red line, yellow line, and green line, and were getting ready to open the blue line that goes clear into El Alto at the top. This is the way to see La Paz! It is more fun than going to Disneyland. We rode all three lines.

Since we didn't see any pink dolphins on our trip to Villa Tunari, we did the next best thing. We stayed in a Hotel called "The Dolphins". We didn't see any dolphins there, either. I did discover just as we were leaving that they had a nice swimming pool in the basement-no dolphins in the pool.

The next few pictures were taken from the different telefericos. La Paz is like a bowl, and buildings are built all the way up. It is quite a sight. It didn't take much effort to ride, but walking around La Paz takes your breath away!

This is one of the ways they build up the sides of the hills.

This is a school below us. It gives you an idea how high we are.

Each car holds about 10 people. These were fellow passengers.

Look at the stairs on the left. How would you like to climb those every day?
The steps are where the double yellow lines are.

It was a beautiful view at night

The teleferico was a little scarier at night. It looked much farther down, and a breeze was blowing, so it rocked a little. You could see right into people's houses. This was the best picture I could get at night. The bottom picture is people waiting to ride the teleferico.

Beautifully dressed Cholita waiting at the  teleferico

The next few pictures are of a section in La Paz and El Alto where the "brujas" (witches) perform their services. I don't know much of the specifics, but they use dead animals, herbs, coca, and a lot of other things we don't know what they were. They burn coca leaves, and do incantations. These traditions have been passed down for thousands of years, as we found out the next day when we visited the ruins of Tiwanaku.

A bruja's shop. Dead animals, etc. 

Here's a bigger picture of the shop. The wood underneath is to burn whatever they burn.

The brujas dressed like everyone else, which still looks like a costume to us. I guess she is snoozing while she waits for a customer.

These people were sitting in a circle. Who knows what you talk about in a circle with a witch.

Driving through the bruja's shops. We stayed in the taxi.

We saw a few of these where they were actually burning the wood.

This one didn't make too much sense-two frogs, one with a burning cigarette in it's mouth. In Tiwanaku, we found out that they worship frogs, so this is some type of shrine. It was amazing that at so many of the shrines we saw, they kept them supplied with fresh gladiolas. They are one of the favorite flowers in Bolivia.

The next day we experienced one good thing from the blockade. We had to drive a different way to get out of La Paz because the main road was blocked by protesters. It took us an hour longer, but we got to see the life of La Paz. We drove by all kinds of shops and got to see some amazing sights.

They have some beautiful, high mountains in the Andes

They also have hippies in Bolivia. We have some hippies that live in an interesting house right across the street from the temple. We'll post a picture of it sometime.

They dress a little warmer in La Paz-because it is higher and colder. Their backpacks are a big bright blanket.

There was a whole line of Cholitas sitting on the curb, waiting for a bus. I asked if I could take their picture, and they said no. So I took a picture of the old train station, and you can see about the first 5 ladies. 

See this woman's cute leggings. I bought a pair to wear when I get back to Boise.

Here we are in La Paz, Bolivia with the Andes Mountains behind us. Never would have guessed we would be here. It's just under 13,000 feet. I wonder what the elevation is at the top of those mountains?

The San Francisco Cathedral, before the demonstration started.

Around the Cathedral during the demonstration. Other than lots of fireworks, it was pretty peaceful.

We really wanted a picture of this woman smiling with her capped gold teeth. But, she wouldn't smile for us.

We wound through street after street of the outdoor markets--amazing!

These women were sitting on the street selling lettuce. 

A typical shop-full of all kinds of things.

One of the shoeshiners we saw. You can't really tell from this picture, but they all wore stocking caps that covered their faces. Sister Glaettli said when they lived there, they were told it was because they didn't want anyone to know who they were, because it is a demeaning job.

One of the many shops we saw selling costumes for Carnaval, which was only a few days away.

We paid for a tour to visit the ruins of Tiwanaku, and then to go to Lake Titicaca and Copacabana. We were so impressed. We thought we would be on a big tour bus with other people, but it ended up being a van, and a private tour for the 4 of us, just like it was in Villa Tunari. We loved it. Wednesday morning we were driven to the ruins at Tiwanaku.

The restaurant we ate in at Tiwanaku. We got to try the famous Boliviano potatoes that are soaked in water for days before they are cooked. They were nasty. I could hardly eat one bite. Luckily, all the other potatoes I have eaten have been good. They also had some good things to eat.

We went through several museums that had interesting artifacts and facts about the ancient people of Bolivia. There were ruins from both the Tiwanaku people, the Incas, and others. We learned more about their religious rites, and the popularity of burning coca leaves. As was mentioned above about the brujas in La Paz, they still follow many of these rituals today. When the Spanish conquered the Incas and tried to convert the people to Catholicism , they allowed them to combine their traditions with Catholicism , and thus many of the traditions, dress, costumes, etc of today. Their famous Carnaval Parade in Oruro tells the story of much of this history with many interesting costumes.
One of the museums has an amazing statue, but they wouldn't let us take any pictures. We bought a book, hoping it would have a picture of the statue, but the whole book was about the history of the use of coca leaves in Bolivia.

The following pictures are of ruins of religious sites for both the Tiwanaku and Inca Indians.

I loved these faces in the wall of this temple.

The indentations are where they put metal pins to help hold the monstrous rocks together

They believe that at one time the position allowed the sun to come through the doorway on a certain day of the year. It has been moved several times. 

They still burn coca leaves here on special holidays

This statue is the closest looking to the one in the museum, but the one in the museum is much bigger and  more intricate.

These rocks were carved to represent the first letter - H- in Harris

 After visiting Tiwanaku, we  drove clear back to El Alto (the city that borders La Paz), and then were driven to Copacabana. The other way we would have had to go through Peru. We at least got to see a little of Peru from the car. It looked the same as Bolivia. Sister Garcia had told us about getting high altitude pills, which we were glad for because they helped our headaches. We were above 14,000 feet several times. 

Our first view of Lake Titicaca

Many of the buses in Bolivia have religious statements or pictures on them. This bus was on the same barge as our vehicle.

To get to Copacabana from La Paz you have to cross over Lake Titicaca on a barge. This is the narrowest part of the Lake and divides the Lake between North and South.  Elder Glaettli could make friends with just about anyone he met in about 1 minute.

It was dark when we arrived in Copacabana, so we didn’t see much until the next morning. Both of the hotels we stayed in La Paz and Copacabana were very nice, and the food we had in Copacabana was very good.

One of the interesting dishes served in Copacabana. It is called Pique a lo Macho. The name comes from a spicey (piquante) pepper and the idea you have to be "macho" to eat it.

Lago Titikaka is the largest lake in South America, and highest navigable lake in the world (12,507 ft above sea level). This refers to navigable by larger boats. It is 118 x 50 miles in length and width. The main settlements on the Lake are Copacabana, Bolivia and Puno Peru.

Hotel Rosario del Lago, and view of Lake Titicaca

One of the cute decorations in the Hotel

Loved these pictures.

They had the most amazing wood furniture.

Restaurante Europa. Amazing decorations and food. The chairs were made from logs.

They had recently decorated for Carnaval

The outside of Restaurante Europa

Statues of Inca Gods. Unfortunately, it rained and we didn't get a closer picture.

Paddle boats for the Lake

I really wanted a picture of some llamas. Almost every tourist item in Bolivia has llamas on it. (For instance the sweater I am wearing) This picture was painted in our restaurant. I made Martin take a picture, just in case I didn't get another picture. I did see llamas other places, but no picture.

I had told our tour guide that I wanted a picture of llamas. We were driving to our boat ride, and suddenly the driver stopped. There were two llamas grazing. My picture with llamas. The driver said not to get to close, or they might spit on you.

After we got back in the car, I had no idea what our ride to the launch site would be like. The Glaettlis had told us about the "Death Road" near La Paz. (Look it up on the internet- it says it is the worlds most dangerous road) They had to drive on it to get to some of their towns. It is a 15,000 ft descent, sheer drops, and in some places two cars cannot pass each other. There are 300 deaths a year on this road. Cyclists love to ride it.???? I told him that I didn't ever think I could ever ride on that road. As we were driving on the very bumpy, gravel road to get to our boat, it got steeper, the road narrower, and a drop off the side. I was getting a little tense. Then Elder Glaettli said, "this is kind of like the Death Road, but not as big a drop off - that was encouraging. It was a beautiful view of the lake below though. We did make it, and then had to do it again on the way back.

We arrived at the launch site , and then rode in a private boat to Isla del Sol. It was a sacred place to both the Tiwanaku, and the Incas. We climbed about 320 stairs (can't remember the exact number, but it seemed more like 500) to the fountain of living waters, (although we were all about ready to die by the time we got there) and then went to some Inca ruins. Most of the ruins we saw were all temples or sacred places. I guess they built them the best, so that they didn’t all fall completely apart.

This is where we got on the boat to travel to Isla del Sol. You can see the Island in front of us, so it wasn't a very long trip.

It wasn't the fanciest boat, but we had it all to ourselves.

The real reed boats, and floating islands are in Puno, Peru, but we were lucky to see a replica of a reed boat in the harbor at Isla del Sol.

A close look at the front of the boat.

View of the whole boat.

An Inca God welcoming us to the Island.

Getting ready to climb the steps to the fountain of eternal youth.

Resting part way up. (Martin was resting too, but he was taking this picture)

We're getting closer to the top.

Our guide. It wasn't really a fountain, but a pipe with water running through it. We'll see if we all live forever now. We then had to walk back down the stairs. 

Martin checking out the ruins of the Inca Temple.

Offerings to the gods (called mesas) were made here. They were items from the harvests and other symbols of the bounties they had received during the year.

The rocks are black from the fires of the mesas.

A woman selling her handmade goods at the temple. We bought a hand knit scarf from her.

Trout farm in the water to the left. This is a floating restaurant on the way back to Copacabana.

 After we arrived back in Copacabana, we ate lunch, went to the beautiful Catholic Basilica, and then headed back to La Paz for our flight home.

The 4 of us in front of the Basilica

The beautifully carved front door. We couldn't take any pictures inside, but it was very beautiful, lots of gold. The door, and inside the Basilica tells the story of a Indian craftsman who made the image of the "Virgin" and makes the journey to bring the "Virgin" to the Basilica.

At certain times of the year, some Catholics crawl on their knees to the top of this hill, called Calvary Hill. It is one of the most sacred places in South America. There are shrines at the top. We chose not to even try to walk up the hill. This hill was also sacred to the Tiwanakus, the Aymara, the Quechuas, and the Incas. To them it represented Viracocha, the creator god. The smaller hill next to it represented the Pachamama, mother earth.

There was a hail storm right before we drove through this area.

We passed Cholitas with sheep, pigs, cows, and donkeys

Our last view of Copacabana

The Cholitas worked in their long skirts. 

This picture turned out well of Martin's hand. There is a Cholita herding those cows behind his fingers.

There were terraced hills everywhere. Some of the terracing is from ancient times. They grow lots of potatoes and quinoa.

We saw cars like this in Copacabana with flowers on them. Our driver told us that people come to the basilica in Copacabana to have their cars blessed, for a long life.  We thought maybe it was a funeral procession. Never thought of blessing a car before.

We saw lots of adobe houses out in the middle of nowhere. Many of these houses have no plumbing. We did see outhouses by some of them. They probably have to carry water, and may or may not have electricity. We could see why Bolivia has the title of being the poorest country in South America.

Bronco fans in Bolivia

A woman at one of the check points selling drinks. They either put jello water or some other drink in plastic bags. The people either use a straw, or just stick them in their mouths, poke a hole in them, and suck the liquid out. We haven't tried one yet.

A great ending to a wonderful day.

When we arrived back to El Alto, there was a huge traffic jam. It was terrible. Everyone was honking and about running into each other. We didn’t make much progress for awhile. Traffic seemed to be coming from every direction. Suddenly we hit a spot where 3 of the 4 lanes on our side were taken up by cars going the other direction. I guess traffic got so bad that they started driving on the wrong side of the road. It was crazy. Our driver took some back roads, and suddenly we were on our way to the airport again. We saw some interesting things on those back roads. We will show you what Neighborhood Watch is like in Bolivia.

In El Alto they are building colorful buildings called Cholets.  They are built by Cholos. The lower floors are commercial, and the top is their house. 

We hit a detour when we were returning to La Paz to catch our plane. As we wandered through the neighborhoods of El Alto, we saw how they handle Neighborhood Watch in Bolivia. It would probably be pretty effective. There was writing on quite a few walls, and dummies hanging from lamp posts to show what could happen to you for not being a good citizen.

I guess these signs say something like if anyone is found stealing, they will be shot - actually, it says auto thieve will be burned.

or hung!

We had a wonderful trip. Martin had allergies on our trip and was feeling a little more ill on Thursday afternoon. Friday morning, when we were safely home, he got really sick, and was very sick for two days. He has improved, but is still struggling and missing some days at the temple. We felt so blessed on our trip. We had contemplated taking another tour to Oruro to see the Carnaval Parade, but didn’t feel good about it. It was a good thing we didn’t, because Martin wouldn’t have made it. I watched about 5 hours of the parade on tv. I watched on and off from 1 PM to 7 PM, and finally turned it off. Sister Farnsworth told me it was still going at 1 AM. There are some amazing costumes, but how many hours of a parade can a person handle. (Every band played the same song) It is one of the biggest events in South America. I took a few pictures of the parade on the tv, so they aren’t very good, but they can give some idea of the costumes. If you are interested in seeing more, go to google and youtube. Type in " Carnaval at Oruro, Bolivia", and there are some videos of past parades. The devil costumes were the most interesting. It also gives some history of the strange costumes, and the parade. 

Huge statue in Oruro of the Virgin Socavon

Presidente Evo - the President of Bolivia, (with the black shirt)  had a great time at the parade.

Each car represented a district of Bolivia. They were covered with plates, silverware, etc. It represented an offering for the sun god, Inti

They had instruments on the back of their shoes. They would hit them together as they walked.